The 10 Best and Worst States to Start a Business

Having a successful business relies a good bit on the location you choose to open that business. As you might imagine, not all states are created equal. WalletHub recently took a look at what states have the most failed businesses — around a fifth of all startups fail, after all — and came up with the 10 best and worst states in the U.S. to start a new business.

In addition to the number of failed businesses, WalletHub — which analyzed data from the U.S Department of Labor and Statistics — also looked at the business environment in states, access to resources, and the cost of running a business in those areas across 25 different metrics. For instance, it pays attention to how long the average work week is, the five-year business survival rate, and things like the affordability of office space. You can check out the full methodology here.

The 10 best states in America to start a new business

1. Texas

2. Utah

3. Georgia

4. Montana

5. Oklahoma

6. Florida

7. North Dakota

8. California

9. Arizona

10. Colorado

The 10 worst states in America to start a new business

1. Hawaii

2. New Hampshire

3. Rhode Island

4. Vermont

5. Pennsylvania

6. West Virginia

7. New Jersey

8. Connecticut

9. Maryland

10. Alabama

Business owners in North Dakota had the most access to financing, which is possibly why the state also topped the list for the largest amount of growth in the number of small businesses in the area. Labor is cheapest in Mississippi and most expensive in Connecticut, and people in Alaska work the longest average work week.